"For many, online life is not just a backdrop to their lives; it becomes the social axis of their lives, and in many cases, it replaces real-life interaction. This is dangerous enough for adults, but it becomes incredibly precarious for young people whose sense of social belonging and identity are tenuous at best. Social inclusion theories suggest that a group's shared values serve as a blueprint for belonging."
"For young men who feel sidelined or fearful of an uncertain social or economic future, high-status voices in toxic online spaces may seem to offer a straightforward narrative: your pain is not a cue for increased care, but a mandate to reclaim stolen power. Many of these platforms reinforce this lesson because provocation travels farther than reflection and is a high-fidelity, low-resistance method of engagement."
Online social life can become the central axis of young people's identities, often replacing real-world interaction and heightening risk when belonging is unstable. Male-coded corners of the internet teach that worth stems from dominance, certainty, and emotional insulation, encouraging mimicry of popular members to gain inclusion and power. Group norms can prioritize control, contempt, and performance, producing a pseudo-narcissistic culture reinforced by repetition and exclusion threats. Platforms amplify provocation because it attracts attention, and algorithmic and social pressures can steer vulnerable boys toward anti-empathy and defensive, exclusionary behaviors.
Read at Psychology Today
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